College Admission

College admission these days are heavily tied to high school grades and standardized test scores such as SAT and ACT. State schools have a high application number every semester, due to the low cost and high number of course options. Due to this, admission counselors narrow down their choices to the two criteria mentioned before. I believe counselor should take a deeper look into the applicant's life before making a decision.

Students often get very nervous when they have to take a test so important as SATs or ACTs. The duration of the test does not help; two hours and half can go by really slow when under so much pressure. Smart kids with great potential fall under the pressure and do not perform well on the test. I believe these scores should be the last thing an admission counselor should look at. After analyzing everything else about the student, then the scores should come into play.

Extra curricular activities also should play a bigger role in the admission process. What the student does outside the classroom says a lot about what kind of person he or she really is. It also shows what kind of person the student will be when it is time to face the real world. Admission counselors sometime overlook this. I believe this should be other criteria that should weight more in the decision.

Colleges overlook student's qualities. The massive number of applicants scares counselors, to the point they don not want to lose any time. Therefore they go for the easy way out on the criteria. That causes that students with great potential and a problem wit test taking lose their opportunity for a great school.